Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/17

Rh haikuan, (1643). In 1636 he was made a prince of the second degree with the designation Wu-ying 武英郡王, but in 1644, after accompanying Dorgon to Peking, he was elevated to a prince of the first degree with the designation Ying. He was given the title Ching-yüan Ta Chiang-chün 靖遠大將軍 and commanded the army that was sent to Shensi by the northern route in pursuit of. Another army, under Dodo, marched to the same destination through Honan. In 1645 Ajige subjugated northern Shensi, and when Dodo was ordered south to Nanking Ajige was entrusted with the expedition sent to capture Li Tzŭ-ch'êng. He followed the rebel into Hupeh, and after administering a decisive defeat stabilized both Hupeh and Kiangsi — the forces under Tso Mêng-kêng (see under ) surrendering to him at Kiukiang. But despite these victories, Ajige was recalled to Peking. Because he had reported the death of Li Tzŭ-ch'êng who was still living, and had offended on several other counts, he was fined instead of being given the customary rewards.

In 1648 Ajige subdued a local uprising at Tientsin and early in the following year he and (d. 1652, q.v.) were sent to Ta-t'ung, Shansi, to guard that place against the Mongols. But the general already in command at Ta-t'ung,, who had previously surrendered to the Manchus, suspecting that Ajige's forces were directed against him, rebelled as Ajige approached the city. Ajige, after being invested with the title Ting-hsi (定西) Ta Chiang-chün, surrounded Ta-t'ung and directed a siege. During the same year (1649) he requested Dorgon, who was then in Ta-t'ung directing the campaign in person, to appoint him assistant regent, but the request was refused. Later Ajige asked permission to erect a mansion for himself, but for this he was severely reprimanded. Late in 1649 when Chiang Hsiang was assassinated he recovered Ta-t'ung for the Manchus.

After the death of Dorgon (at the close of 1650) Ajige busily rallied supporters with a view to making himself regent. But when he was on his way to the funeral of Dorgon, he was arrested by and other princes, and was escorted to Peking and imprisoned. At first he was simply shorn of his titles and put under restraint with his family, but later the sentence was raised to solitary confinement, confiscation of his property and expulsion of himself and his family from the imperial clan. Found in possession of weapons, and accused (late in 1651) of attempted arson in prison, he was compelled to commit suicide. His descendants were, however, branch by branch gradually reclaimed by the imperial clan. A great-great-granddaughter of Ajige became the wife of.

[1/168/59b; 1/223/10b; 2/1/7b; 3/ 3/16a.]

2em

A-k'o-tun 阿克敦, May 4, 1685–1756, Feb. 22, official, was a mem­ber of the Chang-chia 章佳 clan and of the Manchu Plain Blue Banner. He was the father of. After receiving the chü-jên degree in 1708 and his chin-shih in 1709, A-k'o-tun became successively a bachelor (1709–12), a compiler (1712–15), an expositor (1715–16), and a reader (1716–17) in the Hanlin Academy. In 1717 he was sent as head of a mission to Korea, being re-appointed in 1722 and 1724. On all of these occasions he was well received, owing in part to his impressive appearance and his digni­fied bearing. From 1718 to 1726 he served, among other posts, as sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat (1718–22), junior vice-president of the Board of War (1722–23), chancellor of the Hanlin Academy (1722–25), and senior vice-president of the Board of Ceremonies (1726) and the Board of War (1726). When K'ung Yü-hsün 孔毓珣, was summoned for an audience with the emperor in 1726 A-k'o-tun was sent to take his place as acting governor­ general of Kwangtung and Kwangsi, and in addi­tion was made Tartar General of Canton. In the following year he was transferred to the post of acting governor of Kwangtung, and later in the same year to that of Kwangsi. Unfortunately he did not get on well with his colleagues, and in 1728 as the result of charges brought against him by K'ung Yü-hsün and Yang Wên-ch'en 楊文乾, he was deprived of his office and titles.

Three years later (1731) he was reinstated as an extra sub-chancellor of the Grand Secretariat, serving in the army of the Northwest in a cam­paign against the Eleuths. The operations proved embarrassing to the government, how­ever, and in 1734 A-k'o-tun was made assistant to Fu-nai 傅鼐, in the peace negotiations held at the tribal headquarters at Ili. Failing to accomplish its aims, the Commission returned to Peking in the spring of 1735. But three years later (1738) A-k'o-tun, in charge of another Commission, succeeded in concluding a boundary agreement. After his return to Peking, early in 1739, he filled many posts, among them  5